Guidelines for Nominators

The award is open to nominees working in, or originally from, the UK or Republic of Ireland only

Nominees should be within 2 years of completion of their PhD on 31 January. Consideration will also be given to those who have taken career breaks or followed different study paths

Assessment for this award will consider work completed during the nominee's PhD and not more than 5 years after the PhD's start day.

When nominating previous RSC prize or award winners, please remember that a person cannot be awarded twice for substantially the same body of work

To make a nomination please use our online awards nominations system to submit the following:

Your name, contact details, and membership number (please contact the RSC Membership team if you do not know your membership details)

The nominee's name and contact details

An up to date CV for the nominee (no longer than one A4 side, 11pt text) which should include their date of birth, summary of education and career, a list of 5 relevant publications, total numbers of publications and patents (if appropriate) and website URL if relevant

A supporting statement (up to 4500 characters, not including spaces) addressing the selection criteria

A short citation describing what the nominee should be awarded for. This must be no longer than 250 characters (not including spaces) and ideally no longer than one sentence

The names and contact details of two referees. Please inform referees of the nomination as the awards system will contact them as soon as the application is submitted. Referees may include the nominee's post-doc or PhD supervisor

Referees must provide reports by 31 January

We will contact nominators and referees of nominees with outstanding references one week after close of nominations on 15 January once only.

Selection Criteria for RSC Awards

Our selection committees base their evaluations primarily on the overall quality of relevant contributions made by nominees and not simply on quantitative measures.

The selection committee(s) will consider the following aspects of all nominations for scientific research Awards as appropriate:

Originality of research

Impact of research

Quality of publications and/or patents and/or software

Innovation

Professional standing

Independence

Collaborations and teamwork

Other indicators of esteem indicated by the nominee/nominator

Guidelines for Referees

The awards system will contact referees to inform them that they must provide reports (of up to 4500 characters, not including spaces) by 31 January.

We will contact nominators and referees of nominees with outstanding references after one week after close of nominations on 15 Januaryonce only.

Referees must state their relationship (if any) with the nominee and note any conflicts of interest.

Previous Winners

History of the Award

Previously the Laurie Vergnano Award, then the Dalton Young Researchers Award, the Dalton Emerging Researcher Award commemorates the chemist, physicist and meteorologist John Dalton.

Born in 1766 to a poor family in Cockermouth, Cumberland, Dalton received his education at a Quaker School where he later became a teacher. After two years teaching and a period of farming he left his village to first become an assistant, and then joint manager, at his cousin's school in Kendal. Whilst there he kept a meteorological diary spanning 15 years and also offered up solutions posed in the mathematical periodicals Ladies' Diary and Gentleman's Diary. His teaching years continued as he moved to Manchester in 1793 and then York in 1799, during which time he taught maths, natural philosophy and chemistry.

His academic contributions ranged from publishing Meteorological Observations and Essays in 1793, to discussing "Daltonism" (colour-blindness), and presenting significant papers entitled Experimental Essays focusing on gas expansion and changes of state. Dalton's most significant work, investigating the physical properties of gases, along with ideas from other chemists such as Lavoisier and Higgins, led to the development of modern atomic theory and the production of the first table of atomic weights.

Following election to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1794 he contributed 116 memoirs including an explanation of volumetric analysis, became secretary in 1880 and finally President in 1817. His fellowships included the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the French Academy of Scientists. Dalton died in 1844; however he showed his ever inquisitive spirit, asking for scientists to study his eyes after death to better understand his colour-blindness.